The use of varying pressure for promoting blood circulation is known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,138,527 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,079 show the use of variable pressure for the treatment of injured limbs.
There exists a variety of devices for improving the physical fitness of the human body.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,336,774, an exercise bicycle is shown, which is arranges in a steam or vapour chamber. The steam chamber is sealed with a fabric cover which extends to the neck to a person such that the whole body of the person except for its head is contained within the chamber. A similar device is known from FR 2 102 886.
From the prior art, it is further known that a pressure acting on the skin of a human body and varying over time may have an effect on the blood circulation within the skin and improve the breakdown of fatty tissue within or underneath the skin.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,946 is concerned with using alternating pressure for cellulite reduction. In a high pressure phase, fluid is pressed from the lymphatic system and then sucked back in a low pressure phase, leading to an improved circulation of lymph over several alternating pressure cycles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,946 also contains a discussion of prior art, where a varying pressure is used for medical treatments. However, neither U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,946 nor the prior art discussed therein appears to be concerned with physical exercise. Rather, only the effect of alternating pressure on the skin of the human body is described.
The use of pressure chambers in combination with physical exercise appears to have resulted from manned spaceflight, where it became necessary to simulate the effects of gravity on the human body for prolonged durations of spaceflight.
The pants of U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,109 use low pressure acting on the abdomen and legs a person to simulate the increased blood flow to these regions. Just like in a gravitational field, the blood flow is forced to the legs and the abdomen by the low pressure. For a more accurate simulation of gravity, the pants have a plurality of pressure chambers that are supplied with low pressure that increases with increasing distance from the heart.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,339, a device is used to generate a force acting on the whole body of the person, this force simulating a gravity force. If, for example, the lower part of a person is put in a pressure chamber supplied with a lower pressure than the ambient pressure, a force is generated by this pressure difference which has the same effect as an increased gravitational force. In order to correctly simulate the gravity effects, however, it is essential that the force generated by the pressure difference acts on the musculoskeletal structure of the body, i.e. the back and the legs. Thus, the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,339 is to be used while standing. This, however, is of disadvantage, as for example a person with a very weak body condition, such as an adipose person, can only use the device at very weak pressures, otherwise the strain on the muscoskeletal structure and on the circulation would be too high. This means, however, that such a person cannot benefit much from an increase in blood pressure.
In applicant's co-pending Ser. No. 09/818,999, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,141,067, which is included as a whole by way of reference, and in EP-A-906,774, a fitness device with a pressure chamber and an exercise device is used for shaping the human body and increasing its fitness. In contrast to U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,339, the exercise device comprises a seat to take the weight off the person's legs so that the exercise device is used without any gravitational-like influence of pressure on the level of exercise device. This allows to adjust the level of physical exercise independently of the pressure acting on the skin. With this improvement, the effects of physical exercise and of pressure can be independently combined and tailored to the various needs and conditions of the persons using the fitness device.
Although there are several concepts for using low pressure and physical exercise to increase the fitness of a person and to reduce cellulite, there is still need to provide a fitness apparatus which is easy and safe to use, and which can be adapted to various body shapes and exercise needs.